Assembly Bill 50 (Wood, D-Santa Rosa) seeks to make several changes to expedite the timely delivery of service by investor-owned electrical utilities.  AB 50 seeks to establish clear expectations for how long it will take utilities to deliver service to new electrical customers or increase the level of service for existing customers.

The legislation is in response to complaints by many communities that have been told by their electrical service provider it could take between 2-7 years to upgrade the local electrical distribution system to serve new businesses, housing developments, charging stations, etc.  These excessive delays have resulted in lost opportunities for transformative economic development, inhibit local ability to increase desperately needed local housing stocks, frustrate efforts to install electric vehicle charging systems, and will stymie the state’s efforts to decarbonize existing residential and commercial buildings.

Beyond merely establishing time limits to provide service, AB 50 also requires utilities to improve their distribution planning processes to work more collaboratively with local governments and ensure that the projected demand for a given planning cycle more closely matches the actual demand for service.  This simple, common-sense change will improve utilities’ ability to meet customer expectations over the mid- and long-term planning horizons.

Finally, AB 50 requires utilities to share information with local governments about where distribution capacity exists or could be easily added to help meet local housing and economic development objectives. This information will help local governments develop better, more refined housing and economic development plans that avoid directing development into areas where service is unlikely to be available in the foreseeable future.

AB 50 is set for hearing in Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee on April 26.  RCRC’s letter of support can be found here.  

For more information, please contact RCRC Policy Advocate, John Kennedy.